This invention relates to new methods of playing solitaire, and more particularly, to an electronic method of playing solitaire incorporating new features which allow the game to be played on the Internet in a tournament format and also increase player enjoyment.
Solitaire is a popular card game which is designed to be played with conventional playing cards by a single person. The object of solitaire, in most variations, is to play all of the cards in the deck according to the rules of the game. To set up the conventional solitaire game, sometimes referred to as the Klondike version, a series of seven stacks are created in a row, with each stack containing a progressively larger number of cards. Typically, the stack on the far left side of the array contains a single card and the remaining stacks have an incrementally increasing number of cards. Thus, in the foregoing arrangement, the seventh stack contains a total of seven cards, the sixth stack contains six cards, etc. The top card of each stack is positioned face up and visible to the player. In the event any ace is revealed during play, the ace may be used to begin one of four additional stacks, with one additional stack for each of the respective suits.
The rules of the game require the player to play cards in descending order on the seven stacks with alternating colors (red and black) on the seven stacks of columns. Cards are revealed one at a time from the top of the play deck containing the remaining unrevealed cards, or in another version of the game, every third card in the play deck is revealed. The newly revealed card is either placed on one of the seven stacks, one of the ace stacks or placed on the discard stack. The bottom card facing up on the stacks, with the remaining face up cards on the stacks, may also be played from stack to stack. In the event all face-up cards are played from one stack to another stack location, if there is an unrevealed card under the stack from which the cards are moved the card under the stack may be turned face-up and revealed. In the event a king is revealed, the king may be used to create a new stack, if there are less than seven stacks in the seven-stack array. If an ace is revealed, the ace may be played to create an ace stack. Cards matching the suit of an ace stack may be played on the respective ace stack in ascending order.
The object of the game of solitaire is to play all the cards so that, through the application of judicious strategy and luck, the game concludes with all fifty-two cards on the ace columns. Often, the game will end prematurely because all possible moves have been exhausted. If the player succeeds in playing all the cards onto the ace columns, this accomplishment is commonly referred to as “busting the deck.”
There are a number of versions of electronic solitaire games, which are designed to be played on personal computers, which follow the conventional rules as described above. A first class of such solitaire games is designed to be played entirely on a single personal computer and does not involve competition with other players at remote locations. Solitaire card games played on a personal computer have a number of features, which distinguish the games from conventional solitaire. For example, electronic solitaire games will frequently incorporate a timer feature which allows a player a predetermined amount of time in which to make a particular play. In the event a card is not played within the predetermined time interval, the next card in the play deck is automatically revealed. A card is moved on the play field to a desired location by manipulating the mouse and dragging the selected card to the new location. In the event a player attempts to improperly play a card to or from a location, the card is automatically returned to its original location.
The advent of the Internet has provided an opportunity for competition by a wide number of individuals at diverse locations. In order for a game to be successful on the Internet, the game should be easy to understand and play and should allow players to exercise skill. Because solitaire is well understood by so many people, the game is particularly suitable to be adapted for tournament play over the Internet. Since many people have some basic familiarity with the game, large numbers of people can immediately play without the need for extensive learning or training. The Internet allows a provider to establish a tournament, which allows a number of players to compete against each other. For example, solitaire games may be played simultaneously by many players over the Internet and their scores can then be posted to a central site. Winners may be declared as those with the highest score within a particular frame of time.
In order to accommodate a large number of players simultaneously playing in a single tournament, the tournament format should have the capability of awarding a wide range of scores in a given event. In order to adopt computer-based solitaire games to an Internet-based tournament format some additional features have been incorporated into the software. For instance, one feature effects communication from a personal computer to a host server to report the score of the player and receive data from host site. Such data received from the host site may include the information relating to the card sequence which is dealt to the player, information relating to the tournaments which are presently available for the player to play, the status of certain tournaments and standings, and the player's account information.
One problem with conventional versions of electronic-based solitaire is that the games frequently allow only a small number of possible moves due to the card pattern of the deal. This situation is referred to as a short deck. In such situations, the player is dissatisfied with the game because the game ends quickly and consequently, the player may lose interest in playing additional games. Furthermore, in conventional solitaire, because the score of the game is highly dependant on the luck of the draw—as opposed to the skill of the player—, there may be legal implications when a player pays to play games and prizes are awarded for high scores. In order to address the problems with a short deck, some games employ the concept of “seeded decks,” which describes decks of cards, which will contain a predetermined minimum number of possible moves. Decks, which do not meet the criterion of containing the predetermined minimum number of moves, are discarded and not distributed to players.
As mentioned above, a further feature required for tournament play is the ability to generate a wide scoring spread among players. One manner to increase the scoring spread is to base the score on the speed of play. In this regard, the score of a successful move can be based, in part, upon the time it takes a player to successfully execute a move. Using speed of play to score has a further advantage because it injects a skill element into the game. Using the speed of play as a scoring function can provide a wider scoring spread; however, it does not contribute to extend the duration of the game.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a version of electronic solitaire which can be played over the Internet which incorporate features which allow for longer play and an increased number of possible moves. It is a further object of the invention to reward the player for the exercise of skill, provide for a wide scoring spread, and generally provide new features to make solitaire games more interesting to play.